Sunday, February 23, 2014

Fringe World 2014

I finally woke from my Fringe World slumber - a programme of 450 shows had me in mental and credit card gridlock every time I looked at it - to see some shows in our fair but warm city of Perth. With extra venues such as The Pleasure Gardens in Russell Square and a converted Piccadilly Cinemas off the Hay Street Mall the city was certainly buzzing with the Cultural Centre and the ever popular Urban Orchard the focal point. The festival is a welcome month long binge of colour and life with productions as varied as cabaret, burlesque, circus, stand-up and all kinds of theatre.

I have created a facebook page for my theatre reviews at Perth Theatre Reviewsbut here are excerpts from my thoughts on (full review via the link for each one):

"At 75 minutes this moves so briskly and the audience I was with lapped it up. The talent on display is impressive - all four actors play everything from piano to saxophone to flute to cello while changing into several characters as the screenwriter and his muse battle the independents, greed, ambition and surprise antagonists at every turn."

"A front row seat meant I was only 2-3 metres away from (Gillian) Cosgriff who proved to be a vivacious, witty, and very charismatic presence as she combined original songs with insights into her life and that of her generation, those of the already nostalgic mid-twenties."

"It’s an uncomfortable tale, deliberately so, and certainly shocked the audience I was with. It makes its point in no uncertain terms but I was left with a sense that there is far more to explore in this dark, twisted world Jeffrey Jay Fowler has created."